Glass Hearts
by TheWammy'sHouseReject
Summary: "Is it worth it?" Itachi asked. "To hold on to all those bitter memories for the sake of the happy ones?" "...I don't know anymore," Taki sighed. "...I just don't know."
1. Sadness and Sorrow

Second crossover and second Collab :) Please review- it makes my day :)

~oOo~

_For Itachi, the world was pain._

_It surrounded him. Consumed him. Destroyed him. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to die, but he knew in his heart that he would never be allowed._

_The agony was like electricity, pulsing through him with every strained beating of his heart. He bit his lip hard, copper and iron filling his mouth._

_"Nnrgh…Ah…Hnn…"_

_From between his spread legs, blood poured out, staining the clean white bed sheets with large, rusty drops. _

_He clenched the sheets between his teeth; pulling them so tight they almost tore. It did nothing to relieve the pain. Blood continued to pour out in the giant ruby stain between his thighs._

_Madara smirked down at him, at the feeble cries that filtered past his ears. He quickened his pace, pounding into him harder, faster, deeper._

_"What's wrong, Itachi?" he sneered. "Where has your heartbreaking voice gone, little bird? Why don't you sing for me anymore?"_

_Itachi glared up at him, hatred, pain and disgust swimming in his coal black eyes. Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall._

_He wouldn't give Madara the pleasure._

_Madara's bruising grip on his hips tightened, and he shuddered, the clues that it was almost over. _

_Itachi whimpered softly as Madara came inside him, before cleaning himself off and redressing. Despite the pain that shot up his spine, Itachi curled up into a little ball, trying to ignore Madara as he got back on the bed and stroked his soft black hair._

_"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"_

_Itachi's growl was cut off by a hacking cough. He clutched at his throat as he struggled to take in air- that cooling balm of oxygen that soothed his ragged lungs._

_When he was finally able to breathe again, Madara turned Itachi to face him. Softly, sweetly, gently, he kissed Itachi's bloodstained lips. The dichotomy of his actions nearly reduced Itachi to tears._

_Still, it wasn't until Madara had left the room that Itachi finally allowed himself to cry._

~oOo~

"Klaus!"

Taki skidded to a halt, dropping to his knees in front of the broken body of his knight.

Klaus looked up at him weakly, smiling a pained, weak smile.

"…I've returned…my master."

The dark stain of blood rapidly spread across his sun kissed skin and pure white shirt, forever destroying its purity.

Pale hands turned red as Taki frantically searched out any way to stop the bleeding.

"Taki-sama…it's useless. He'll be dead in a matter of minutes."

"No!"

Taki had brought Klaus back from the brink of death once before. But this time, he knew it was different. Yet…

His wounds ran too deep. No matter how hard anyone tried, there would be no saving him. Not this time.

"Klaus, no!" he screamed. "You can't leave! I won't let you! You promised you would never leave!"

Those looking on were silent with before had their commander lost his composure so thoroughly.

"Klaus…"

His labored breathing had already ceased. Captain Klaus von Wolfstadt, Taki Reizen's knight and lover, was dead.

"Klaus! Klaus, no!"

Taki buried his face in Klaus' bloody chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"…I love you," he whispered, in a voice so quiet and broken that it almost wasn't there.

~oOo~

_Darkness. Fire. Fighting. _

_(Can't breathe.)_

_Can't stop. Keep going. Don't stop. Keep fighting._

_(Can't breathe. Can't stop.)_

_Make it stop…I can't breathe! Kill me! Anything is better than fighting this pointless battle! Death is nothing compared to this living hell!_

_(Can't breathe. Can't fight. Can't die.)_

_Madara-sensei…please have mercy. Just this once, have mercy on me. Please…kill me. I'm sorry I couldn't finish the mission. Kisame will do it. Just kill me now…_

**_"I'll get you out of here. I should be able to get you a good medic without too much trouble."_**

_No! Kill me! Can't you see I don't want to live anymore? Kill me now! Sensei, please!_

_…Kill me…_

~oOo~

"Where did you find him?"

"Near the officer's quarters, sir. He's pretty badly injured."

Cadet Yamamoto looked down at the broken body laying on the bed not a foot away from him. Lieutenant Suguri sat down and began to look him over.

He ran his fingers down the bloody marks that covered his body, feeling the muscles ripple underneath. The man (or, rather, the boy, seeing as he couldn't be much older than Taki) seemed to be in top physical condition, despite the fever that seemed to have been raging unchecked for quite some time- almost definitely a soldier, and a good one at that.

The question was, who was he, and how had he ended up naked beside the officer's quarters?

Yamamoto wasn't exaggerating when he said he was badly injured. He had been stabbed through with a blade- a wickedly sharp one at that. something seemed to have burned him, angry red marks working their way up his chest like tongues of flame.

Suguri stopped, staring at a deep bite wound that rested at the juncture between his neck and shoulders.

_That _was an injury you _didn't_ get in a fair fight.

"Cadet Yamamoto, please go back to your room."

"Yes, sir."

Once the child was gone, Suguri turned his attention back to the boy before him, forehead creasing in anger and worry.

A dark hickey mark stood out on his uninjured shoulder. Suguri pulled the blanket further down, revealing deep, dark bruises on his hips. Angry claw marks on his upper arms screamed that there had been a great struggle.

Suguri took a deep breath, pulling the blanket off him completely. He cringed, then closed his eyes against the sight.

He was painfully reminded of the time when Taki had been in this position…so weak…so helpless…

So violated.

There was only one way this young man could have gotten _those _types of injuries.

~oOo~

Taki splashed cold water on his face, shaking his head violently to clear his mind.

With Klaus or without him, he still had a country to run. Besides, Klaus wouldn't want him to sulk around and do nothing once he was gone.

With that in mind, Taki took a shaky breath and stepped out to face the world.

"He doesn't look like he's from Eurote at all. Where do you think he came from?"

"Cadet Yamamoto says he just suddenly appeared out of nowhere."

"He's just a kid. You can't trust _everything _he says."

Taki stepped up to the group of gossiping soldiers. They immediately straightened up and saluted him.

"At ease," Taki commanded. "What are you three talking about?"

"One of the cadets found a man near the officer's quarters. He's very ill, and badly injured, if we heard things right."

"Where's he being treated?"

"Lieutenant Suguri is looking after him, sir. We figure he's a soldier for some other country."

Taki ran off, determined to see this so-called soldier.

He had to see this for himself.

~oOo~

Taki barged into Suguri's room without knocking. Suguri turned around, pausing what he was doing.

That's when Taki saw it.

Half a dozen blood soaked cloths were discarded, the stench of iron filling the room. A mass of blood and flesh and long black hair lay nearly lifeless on the mattress, his bare back exposed to the cool air of the room.

"Lieutenant Suguri…how bad is he?"

"Taki-sama, please just leave this to me. He'll be fine."

"Lieutenant Suguri, I asked you a question! How badly is he injured? I want the _truth._"

Suguri bowed his head, closing his eyes and coming clean.

"He's pretty bad. his injuries are quite extensive. And…I believe he's been violated."

The words hit Taki like a ton of bricks.

"…Violated? As in…raped?"

"…It looks like it, Taki-sama."

Taki ran to the bedside, taking in the damaged body. The bruises, the bite marks…everything seemed so eerily familiar.

"I've done everything I can. I gave him a sedative, and all we can do is let him sleep."

Lieutenant Suguri left the room, casting a concerned glance back at Taki.

He'd been different in the three weeks since Klaus had died. Once, he had stormed out of a meeting, masking tears behind angry words. It might be dangerous to leave him here alone.

…Suguri took a deep breath and left the room.

Taki pulled up the abandoned chair and sat, staring at the broken body in front of him.

"You're not going to die," he said fiercely. "I've seen too many people die. I won't add another to the list."

He grabbed the boy's lifeless hand, squeezing it tightly in hopes of getting a response.

"I won't let any more people die!" he cried, sobbing into the other boy's hand. "I…I've had enough of people dying…"

The hand in his squeezed back lightly. Taki looked down at the person.

He was still asleep.

~oOo~

_God, please…let me die. I don't want to live in this world any longer. Madara won't grant me release, but you won't be so cruel, will you?_

**_"You're not going to die."_**

_…Such a sweet voice. So kind and innocent sounding._

"I won't let any more people die! I've had enough of people dying…"

_That voice…it sounds so heartbroken. So sad. So lonely._

_Don't be sad…if you really don't want me to go just yet, then maybe I will stay._

_If only for a little while longer._

~oOo~

Yeah, I killed off Klaus D: I hope he isn't too mad at me. This will eventually morph into a Taki/Itachi pairing, for those who are curious.

Anyways, please, PLEASE , if anyone takes the time to read this, PLEASE leave a review *on knees begging*


	2. Timeless Melody

Itachi spends the next week in an ill and fitful sleep. He comes to, occasionally, briefly, pain filling every thought, and then… He could hear the sweet voice, sometimes, like honey on silver, a sound from a wounded man's dream. (A song from a beautiful, broken bird.

When he's unconscious, his mind wanders, and he dreams. He dreams of his past, flashes of a life that he had. He remembers sun kissed meadows, and the green, green, green grass and he's just a child, and everything is beautiful. He remembers when he gathered armfuls of flowers, the sun gently kissing his baby soft skin. And then, suddenly, the illusion is shattered, and the scent of blood is overwhelming... and he's looking down on the masterpiece in red blood of a battlefield.

_(You did well, _Madara said. _You did well, you're becoming stronger. _Itachi only ever feels weak.)

He remembers the Naka river, lazy and lulling as its dark waters swing by the rain washed shores in early spring, still a gentle muddy brown from the melted snow, and then summer washes over it, and Shisui is there, laughing, and talking, and his lips move, but no sound comes out and he wants to hold onto it, so, so much…

Shisui looks happy, even in death. Red billows out from the gaping, empty sockets where his beautiful eyes once were, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

(_Sorry, Itachi. There won't be a next time.)_

He remembers his mother and her smile, like a lone ray of sunshine in the dark…(Her horrified face when he ran her through with his sword.)

(He wants to die. He wants to die so very, very much, but he's afraid, so **_deathly_ **afraid, and...)

But mostly… mostly he dreams of Sasuke, Sasuke who was young and innocent and beautiful, and Itachi made him a monster, and he can't rid himself of the image of his otouto's loath filled eyes, and it's your fault, your fault, his mind screamed, you did this, you did this, you did this, and Nii-san, why? Just… WHY? And he is helpless and alone and trapped in this feeble shell of a body, and he's scared, so scared that he won't be able to come back, to save his brother, to pay for his mistakes with his blood.

But then he can hear… can hear that voice… a luminous timeless melody. A voice that talks in the dark and keeps the demons at bay

...

And then he dreams of flowers.

~x~

Taki is haunted. He is haunted by Klaus, by Klaus' memory, by the emptiness where he should have been, and he can't help himself. He grieves.

_Why did you leave? I told you, I **told **you never to leave without my consent, you selfish bastard! Why did you leave?...You...now you'll never come back._

Taki is haunted by the boy, who can't be much older than himself, and who lies in a hospital bed, alone and broken, and even though he's doped up on painkillers, he still looks like he's in so much pain. It's not fair, it's inhumane… why do people… have to suffer so much?

He thinks of the patient daily, the beautiful delicate face flashing in his mind. Even in sleep, he looks so sad. that mysterious boy, with no country, no home to speak of... Taki wants to comfort him, to hold him and talk to this boy, this boy who screamed in agony, even as he slept.

The boy mumbles to himself, half-coherent ramblings, pleas of 'stop' and 'don't' and 'Please, it hurts...' Taki's heart turns to ice in his chest, because he _knows _what the boy is dreaming.

Other times, he would plead for forgiveness, begging pardon from whatever creatures haunt his mind.

'Mother, please...I didn't mean to...I'm so sorry...so sorry. Please, mother... Father, I'm sorry, don't hate me...Sasuke...Sasuke...'

The Sasuke character is what intrigues Taki the most. He is the one he begs most, the one he screams for when the burden becomes too heavy to bear. That was when the coughing would start, the blood and the thrashing and Taki would have to leave, and nurses would come rushing in.

But he always comes back. He rushes through meetings, so he could go to the hospital faster, and just… be there.

He would let his fingers trace a calloused, elegant hand, he would brush a strand of raven black hair, and he would talk, as if through the sheer sound of his voice he could make those long dark lashes, flutter, like a butterfly's wing, and make that beautiful broken perfect human being just wake…

(The boy, despite his illness, is beautiful. But there is a roughness to his beauty. Something callous, colder than ice, hotter than fire. The boy is a soldier, Taki knows it.)

He talks for hours to no end. Because he can't sleep, not when he dreams of Klaus, and the good days of stolen kisses and soft 'I love you's, and the bad days after, of animalistic lust and pain and fucking in back end rooms, and dark purple bruises left as a violent possessive mark… he'd rather go insane from insomnia.

He is already insane, he is sure.

'Just… just come around. Do that for me, even if you don't know who I am. Just wake. Please. Just stop this. Stop this and come back, and save me.'

Save me, save me, save me… he needs it so much, so desperately. He needs to be saved.

Taki takes the boy's hand in his own, crying against it, sobs shaking his body.

'It's selfish, I know...but I need you...' _I don't know why, but I need you. Please need me back._

As his sobs die away, he looks down at the boy, and nearly faints from shock.

His eyes are black, black as midnight, black as sin. They swirl with haunted memories and horrors Taki could only guess at.

More importantly than that, they were wide open, and looking up.

This stranger, this fallen angel from heaven, is staring up at him, and his gaze is quite clear.


End file.
